Costs and Benefits of the Reduction of Magnetic Fields 309 Costs and Benefits of the Reduction of Magnetic Fields Due to Overhead Power Lines (original) (raw)
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COSTS AND BENEFITS OF THE REDUCTION OF MAGNETIC FIELDS DUE TO OVERHEAD POWER LINES
The possibility of adverse health effects caused by electromagnetic fields around overhead power lines has been a topic of investigation, scientific and public debate over the past decades. Several surveys, including one by the Health Council of the Netherlands in 2000, have discussed the association between childhood leukaemia and living nearby overhead power lines found in epidemiological studies, although no plausible biological mechanism has been found. On the basis of the precautionary principle, the Dutch government has commissioned research into costs and benefits of measures to reduce the population's exposure to magnetic fields encircling power lines.
Residential exposure to magnetic fields generated by 110-400 kV power lines in Finland
Bioelectromagnetics, 1995
In a specific case, the magnetic field generated in a building by a nearby power line is usually easy to calculate, although the accuracy of these calculations is sensitive to the quality of source information. To be able to study public health dimensions of magnetic field exposure (e.g., risk of cancer), it is necessary to evaluate the size and exposure of the population at risk. Relatively little quantitative information on public exposure to power-frequency magnetic fields of high-voltage power lines is available. This report describes residential exposure to magnetic fields from 110 kV, 220 kV, and 400 kV power lines in Finland at the national level, including 90% of the total line length in 1989. A geographical information system (GIS) was used to identify the buildings located near the power lines. After determining the distances between the lines and the buildings, historical data on load currents of these lines were used to calculate the magnetic fields. The residential magnetic field histories were then linked to the residents by means of a computerized central population register. The data obtained on personal exposure have also been utilized in a nationwide epidemiological study on magnetic field exposure of power lines and risk of cancer. The methods of exposure assessment and results of the number of buildings near 110 kV, 220 kV, and 400 kV power lines, their average annual magnetic fields, and personal exposure to magnetic fields from these lines are described. We found that 15,600 residents lived in an average residential magnetic field 20.1 FT caused by power lines in 1989. The number of these residents increased fivefold during 1970-1989. We estimated that 0.3% of the population was exposed in their residences to an annual average magnetic flux density from 110 kV, 220 kV, and 400 kV power lines higher than 0.1 FT, the level that the background magnetic flux density in general does not exceed in Finnish homes. Thus, the problem of magnetic field exposure generated by high-voltage lines concerns only a relatively small fraction of the total population in Finland. However, the size and exposure of the population at risk remain somewhat arbitrary in practical multisource situations, as the biological interaction mechanism, the concept of harmful dose, and, in particular, the significance of the duration of exposure are unknown. 81995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Environmental Health, 2010
Background: Some epidemiologic studies have suggested an association between electromagnetic field exposure induced by high voltage power lines and childhood leukemia, but null results have also been yielded and the possibility of bias due to unmeasured confounders has been suggested. Methods: We studied this relation in the Modena and Reggio Emilia municipalities of northern Italy, identifying the corridors along high voltage power lines with calculated magnetic field intensity in the 0.1-<0.2, 0.2-<0.4, and ≥ 0.4 microTesla ranges. We identified 64 cases of newly-diagnosed hematological malignancies in children aged <14 within these municipalities from 1986 to 2007, and we sampled four matched controls for each case, collecting information on historical residence and parental socioeconomic status of these subjects.
This work presents the survey of magnetic field measurements taken around the high and medium voltage power lines, and induced current densities, at the outer edge along the body heights with different body types, calculated by using real data. Survey was carried out in city of Antalya, Turkey. There, more then 2,000 families, about 200 workers and a thousand of primary school students are in the focus of this study. Surveyed region in this study in ±75m band of power lines is reading a magnetic field between 1µT and 5.2 µT, bedrooms in the apartments are reading up to 0.7 µT, and class rooms are reading up to 0.35 µT in the surveyed region. Induced internal electric fields and current densities in the occupants' body due to exposure to external magnetic fields produced by a conventional power lines such as 380,154 and 34.5 kV (50Hz) have been investigated. Induced current density for 5 years old child is calculated as about 10 (µA/m 2 ), and 15 (µA/m 2
Residential Area Medium Voltage Power Lines; Public Health, and Electric and Magnetic Field Levels
In this study, the electric and magnetic fields occurred around the medium voltage power distribution lines (MV-PDL) in the residential area have been analyzed, and different MV and LV power distribution lines (PDL) in Antalya were selected in order to investigate the electromagnetic field exposure according to yearly-based current load on power lines. Knowledge of magnetic field levels determined around power lines is so important for completing acceptable epidemiological studies, and medium voltage power lines established in the residential area close to the apartments have been investigated. There are houses and apartments in a distance of 10m or less which have potential for child leukemia, since magnetic field levels are around 0.4 µT and up.
Radiology and Oncology
Background Some previous research showed that average daily exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MF) of more than 0.3 or 0.4 μT could potentially increase risk of childhood leukaemia. Materials and methods To allow calculations of ELF MF around high voltage (HV) power lines (PL) for the whole Slovenia, a new three-dimensional method including precision terrain elevation data was developed to calculate the long-term average ELF MF. Data on population of Slovenian children and adolescents and on cancer patients with leukaemia’s aged 0–19 years, brain tumours at age 0–29, and cancer in general at age 0–14 for a 12-year period 2005–2016 was obtained from the Slovenian Cancer Registry. Results According to the large-scale calculation for the whole country, only 0.5% of children and adolescents under the age of 19 in Slovenia lived in an area near HV PL with ELF MF density greater than 0.1 μT. The risk of cancer for children and adolescents living in areas with highe...
Environmental pollution by magnetic field associated with power transmission lines
Energy Conversion and Management, 2002
Power frequency (50/60 Hz) magnetic field exposure still draws the attention of many researchers worldwide to investigate its harmful effects on living bodies. In light of this attention, as the population increases, the overlap between the power transmission lines and the settlement areas causes a problem (as in the case of exposure in random, residential, commercial and other areas, which lie very near or under the power transmission lines). In this paper, the power frequency magnetic fields, over a human body, at different positions, near extra high voltage (EHV) transmission lines are demonstrated, both analytically and practically. For the analytical part, the human body is approximately simulated as a parallelepiped. Two different positions for a human are selected near 500 and 220 kV power transmission lines. The magnetic field intensity along the vertical center line of the human is calculated. The effects of two different line configurations (for 220 and 500 kV power systems) and human positions, with respect to the transmission line, are considered. The paper also presents the actual practical magnetic field values measured near actual power transmission lines (220 and 500 kV) using a magnetic field measuring instrument. These transmission lines represent parts of the transmission network of the Egyptian united power system, near Cairo and El-Asher of Ramadan, under the actual loads. The results obtained, from the analytical studies and practical measurements, are compared with the international standards of the magnetic field exposures.
Journal of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, 1998
On March 2nd of this year the results of a study by the Royal Adelaide Hospital were released which found "no evidence for cancer link with powerlines", and has been quoted as confirmation that it "should be of great peace of mind to the many thousands of people who live near or under powerlines". On July 3rd 1997 the USA National Cancer Institute's Linet study was released which "found no evidence that magnetic fields (EMFs) in the home increase the risk for the most common form of childhood cancer". On October 31st 1996 the USA National Academy of Sciences National Research Council issued a review of the EMF literature and concluded that "there is no conclusive and consistent evidence showing that exposure to residential electric and magnetic fields produces cancer, adverse neurobehavioral effects, or reproductive and developmental defects". Largely on the basis of these three studies, there are calls in Australia and the USA to put an end to further research into the possible adverse biological effects from human exposure to powerline frequency EMFs. However, a careful examination of the limitations of these three studies does not support this conclusion.
Environmental Health Perspectives, 1993
Because of a reported excess of cancers among children living near power lines, there is some concern that electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) induced by electric power sources may affect human health, and this possibility has provoked considerable controversy. The scientific question of whether there are such health effects is far from resolved. Building upon a set of detailed reviews of the available evidence, this paper proposes research priorities and places particular emphasis on epidemiologic research. The most pressing need is to verify the validity of the claim that childhood cancer risk is affected by the type of wiring code in the vicinity of the household. More useful work can be done to verify this in the areas in which such studies have already been carried out, and additional studies should be done elsewhere. Methodological investigation of the interrelationships among different measures and proxies for EMF is needed, and this could feed back to influence the type of EMF measures used in epidemiologic studies. Studies of cancer among adults in relation to EMFs in the work place are needed. Of lower priority are studies of adverse reproductive outcomes in relation to parental EMF exposure and studies of the neurobehavioral impact of chronic EMF exposure. This article also discusses the structural impediments of conducting environmental epidemiology research and argues that bold, large-scale epidemiologic monitoring systems are needed. There is a discussion of the interface between epidemiology and public policy in a topic area as controversial as EMFs.
Environmental Research, 2019
Pooled analyses have suggested a small increased risk of childhood leukemia associated with distance and with exposure to high magnetic fields from power transmission lines. Because magnetic fields are correlated with distance from lines, the question of whether the risk is due to magnetic fields exposure or to some other factor associated with distance from lines is unresolved. We used data from a large records-based case-control study to examine several research questions formulated to disentangle the relationships among magnetic fields, distance from high voltage lines, and childhood leukemia risk. In models examining an interaction between distance and magnetic fields exposure, we found that neither close proximity to high voltage lines alone nor exposure to high calculated fields alone were associated with childhood leukemia risk. Rather, elevated risk was confined to the group that was both very close to high voltage lines (<50 m) and had high calculated fields (≥0.4 μT) (odds ratio 4.06, 95% CI 1.16, 14.3). Further, high calculated fields (≥0.4 μT) that were due solely to lower voltage lines (<200 kV) were not associated with elevated risk; rather, risk was confined to high fields attributable to high voltage lines. Whilst other explanations are possible, our findings argue against magnetic fields as a sole explanation for the association between distance and childhood leukemia and in favor of some other explanation linked to characteristics of power lines.